I went to the Orlando Shakespeare Theater to sketch work being done on the set for Les Miserables. The key element of this stage is a large rotating lazy Susan that will allow different stage sets to rotate into view. A second level is where some of the fighting will be staged. Stage hands joked that the raw backdrop looked a bit like a Koala. To me it looks like a loudmouthed carved pumpkin. I’m sure that when the set is complete that it will look like the squalid streets of Paris at the turn of the century. For some reason the rotating stage required quite a few stage hands to turn. They worked to remove the friction. New gels had to be added to all the lights in the theater, so a ladder and moving scaffolding were used to get up high enough to reach the lights.
WHAT:
Les Misérables
Book by Alain Boublil | Music by Claude-Michel Schӧnberg | Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
Directed by DJ Salisbury | Musical Direction by Ken Clifton
SUMMARY:
Set in the early 19th-century, a French peasant named Jean Valjean (played by Michael Hunsaker) is on a quest for redemption after serving nineteen years in jail for stealing a loaf of bread. When a compassionate bishop inspires him with a tremendous act of mercy, Valjean decides to start his life anew, but is relentlessly tracked down by Police Inspector Javert (played by Davis Gaines). Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into France’s revolution, where a group of young visionaries make their last stand at a street barricade.
WHEN:
September 10 – October 12, 2014
Tuesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
WHERE:
Orlando Shakespeare Theater in the Margeson Theater
John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 East Rollins Street, Orlando, FL 32803
TICKET INFORMATION: Previews and Senior Matinees $27, $22, $15
All other Performances $55, $45, $30
Many performances are already sold out, so act fast.